[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7216-7217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3228]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Docket OR-04-001; FRL-7623-3]


Oregon Maintenance of Effort Reduction

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency

ACTION: Notice; proposed determination with request for comments and 
notice of opportunity for public hearing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces an 
opportunity for public hearing and comment on a proposed determination 
that the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) should be 
allowed a reduced Maintenance of Effort (MOE) level for Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2003, consistent with MOE requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) 
and EPA financial assistance policies and procedures.

DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received 
by EPA by March 15, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this proposed action should be sent to: 
Paul Koprowski, EPA, Oregon Operations Office, 811 SW Sixth Ave., 
Portland, OR 97204. Electronic comments should be sent either to 
[email protected] or to http://www.regulations.gov, which is an 
alternative method for submitting electronic comments to EPA. To submit 
comments, please follow the detailed instructions described in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. Copies of the documents relevant to 
this action are available for public inspection during normal business 
hours at the EPA, Oregon Operations Office, 811 SW Sixth Ave., 
Portland, OR 97202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Koprowski, EPA Project Officer, 
Oregon Operations Office, 811 SW Sixth Ave., Portland, OR 97204, (503) 
326-6363, or e-mail address at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The EPA provides financial assistance to the ODEQ, for the 
operation of its Air Pollution Control Program through an annual 
continuing environmental program grant agreement. EPA awards the grant 
pursuant to section 105(a) of the CAA (42 United States Code 7405) and 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 30 and 35.140.
    Section 105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides that 
``No agency shall receive any grant under this section during any 
fiscal year when its expenditures of non-Federal funds for recurrent 
expenditures for air pollution control programs will be less than its 
expenditures were for such programs during the preceding fiscal year. 
In order for the Administrator to award grants under this section in a 
timely manner each fiscal year, the Administrator shall compare an 
agency's prospective expenditure level to that of its second preceding 
year.'' EPA may still award financial assistance to an agency not 
meeting this requirement, however, if EPA, ``after notice and 
opportunity for public hearing, determines that a reduction in 
expenditures is attributable to a non-selective reduction in the 
expenditures in the programs of all Executive branch agencies of the 
applicable unit of Government'' (CAA section 105(c)(2)). These 
statutory requirements are repeated in EPA's implementing regulations 
at 40 CFR 35.146.
    On December 31, 2003, ODEQ submitted a request to reduce the MOE 
level in their FY03 Section 105 air program grant in accord with 40 CFR 
35.146. ODEQ submitted supporting budget documentation that shows that 
during 2002 and 2003 the State of Oregon experienced several revenue 
shortfalls resulting in across-the-board agency budget cuts. The total 
reduction to the Oregon air quality MOE due to these non-selective 
budget cuts is $310,070. More specifically, $259,394 of the $310,070 is 
a prorated permanent agency budget reduction required by the 
implementation of Oregon HB 5100 for the period February 2003 to 
September 2003. HB 5100 identified across-the-board reductions if 
voters rejected a tax increase on January 28, 2003. The tax increase 
was rejected. The remaining $50,676 of the $310,070 is a prorated 
amount based on the Governor's administrative budget reductions due to 
revenue shortfall in December 2003. The Governor has authority to 
administratively reduce budgets without legislative action but the 
reductions have to be across-the-board. The documentation included with 
the ODEQ request clearly shows that across-the-board cuts were applied 
to all Executive branch agencies in Oregon.
    After reviewing the information submitted with the ODEQ request, 
EPA concludes that ODEQ's budget reduction meets the CAA criteria as 
non-selective since the budgets of all executive branch agencies were 
cut uniformly and the ODEQ air program was not singled out in the 
budget reductions.

II. Action

    As described above, based upon the preceding discussion and the 
information submitted by the ODEQ, EPA proposes to approve ODEQ's 
request for EPA to consider the FY 2003 reductions in nonfederal 
funding of ODEQ's air pollution control program as non-selective. Based 
on materials submitted, the EPA Region 10 Administrator believes the 
reductions were non-selective and therefore hereby proposes to find 
that this $310,070 reduction was a non-selective reduction within the 
meaning of Section 105(c) of the CAA. This action would reduce the 
matching requirement from $16,016,683 to $15,706,613 for the October 1, 
2003 to September 30, 2003 period.

III. Invitation To Comment, Opportunity for Public Hearing

    This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an 
opportunity for public hearing as required by the CAA. All written 
comments received by March 15, 2004, on this proposal will be 
considered. EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only if 
a written request for a public hearing is received by EPA at the 
address above by March 15, 2004. If no written request for a hearing is 
received, EPA will proceed to the final determination. While notice of 
the final determination will not be published in the Federal Register,

[[Page 7217]]

copies of the determination can be obtained by sending a written 
request to Paul Koprowski, EPA, Oregon Operations Office, 811 SW Sixth 
Ave., Portland, OR 97202.

IV. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related 
Information?

    EPA's Oregon Operations Office has established an official public 
rulemaking file available for inspection. The official public file 
consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action; i.e., 
copies of the State request and supporting documentation and any 
comments received. The official public rulemaking file is available for 
public viewing at the Oregon Operations Office, 811 SW Sixth Ave., 
Portland, OR 97204. EPA requests that, if at all possible, you contact 
the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 
schedule your inspection. EPA's official hours of business are Monday 
through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal Holidays.
    You may access this Federal Register document electronically 
through the Regulations.gov Web site located at http://www.regulations.gov where you can find, review, and submit comments on 
Federal rules that have been published in the Federal Register, the 
Government's legal newspaper, and are open for comment.
    For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's policy is 
that public comments, whether submitted electronically or on paper, 
will be made available for public viewing in the official public 
rulemaking file, as EPA receives them and without change, unless the 
comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment 
containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that 
material in the version of the comment that is placed in the official 
public rulemaking file. The entire printed comment, including the 
copyrighted material, will be available at the Regional Office for 
public inspection.

V. How and To Whom Do I Submit Comments?

    You may submit comments electronically, by mail, or through hand 
delivery/courier. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the 
appropriate rulemaking identification number by including the text 
``Public comment on notice to reduce level of MOE in Oregon'' in the 
subject line on the first page of your comment. Please ensure that your 
comments are submitted within the specified comment period. Comments 
received after the close of the comment period will be marked late and 
EPA is not required to consider these late comments.
    1. Electronically. If you submit an electronic comment as 
prescribed below, EPA recommends that you include your name, mailing 
address, and an e-mail address or other contact information in the body 
of your comment. Also include this contact information on the outside 
of any disk or CD ROM you submit, and in any cover letter accompanying 
the disk or CD ROM. This ensures that you can be identified as the 
submitter of the comment and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties or needs further 
information on the substance of your comment. EPA's policy is that EPA 
will not edit your comment, and any identifying or contact information 
provided in the body of a comment will be included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the official public docket. If EPA cannot 
read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you 
for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
    a. E-mail. You may send comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected], please include the text ``Public comment on notice 
to reduce level of Maintenance of Effort in Oregon.'' EPA's e-mail 
system is not an anonymous access@ system. If you send an e-mail 
comment directly without going through Regulations.gov, EPA's e-mail 
system automatically captures your e-mail address. E-mail addresses 
that are automatically captured by EPA's e-mail system are included as 
part of the comment that is placed in the official public docket.
    b. Regulations.gov. You may use Regulations.gov as an alternative 
method to submit electronic comments to EPA. Go directly to 
Regulations.gov at http://www.regulations.gov, then select 
Environmental Protection Agency at the top of the page and use the 
``go'' button. The list of current EPA actions available for comment 
will be listed. Please follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. The system is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA 
will not know your identity, e-mail address, or other contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
    c. Disk or CD ROM. You may submit comments on a disk or CD ROM that 
you mail to the mailing address identified in Section 2, directly 
below. These electronic submissions will be accepted in WordPerfect, 
Word or ASCII file format. Avoid the use of special characters and any 
form of encryption.
    2. By Mail. Send your comments to: Paul Koprowski, EPA, Oregon 
Operations Office, 811 SW Sixth Ave., Portland, OR 97202. Please 
include the text ``Public comment on notice to reduce level of 
Maintenance of Effort in Oregon'' in the subject line on the first page 
of your comment.
    3. By Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Paul 
Koprowski, EPA, Oregon Operations Office, 811 SW Sixth Ave., Portland, 
OR 97202. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Operation 
Office's normal hours of operation. The Operations Offices official 
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
excluding Federal holidays.

    Dated: February 5, 2004.
L. John Iani,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 04-3228 Filed 2-12-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P